STATE HOUSE – The General Assembly has authorized the creation of a panel to examine the status of youth financial education in Rhode Island.
The 15-member study commission is to include three senators, three representatives, and “individuals such as the Commission of Elementary and Secondary Education, the general treasurer, a member of the Society of Certified Public Accountants, a member of the Rhode Island Bankers Association and a high school and middle school teacher,” the Assembly said in its announcement.
The panel will report back to the legislature early next year.
“Financial literacy – which means more than just knowing how to balance a checkbook – is a vital step toward ensuring the well-being of our youth as they move into adulthood,” said Sen. Daniel J. Issa, a Democrat representing Central Falls, Cumberland and Pawtucket, and the chair of the Senate Committee on Education. “The consequences of inadequate financial literacy can be serious.”
Unlike many other states, Rhode Island does not currently require that financial literacy be taught in public schools. “We cannot assume students are becoming financially literate, just because they have math classes,” said Rep. Raymond C. Church, who sponsored the House version of the bill (2007 H-6235), as Issa sponsored the Senate version (2007 S-0804A).
High school seniors here ranked below their peers in a nationwide financial literacy survey last year. Students in the Ocean State answered 48.8 percent of questions correctly, compared with the national average of 52.4 percent.
“It is crucial that our middle and high school students develop an understanding of financial issues that they will soon be dealing with in their own adult lives,” Issa said.
“The ability to handle one’s own money is a vital skills for all adults, but it seems many young adults, and even not-so-young adults, don’t even know the basics,” Church added. “If there’s any skill that every adult needs, it’s how to handle personal finance, so it’s worth exploring whether this is something being taught or that we need to make room for in the curriculum.”
The authorization of the study commission was applauded by General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio and the Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition, an organization of several dozen groups and individuals promoting financial literacy education that is part of the national Jump$tart effort.
“We are extremely pleased that 2007 will likely be the year that a serious focus on youth financial education will begin in Rhode Island,” said Jim T. Hedemark, executive director of the Rhode Island Jump$tart. “Too many young people are entering adulthood with little or no training to navigate today’s dynamic and challenging personal financial marketplace. Too many young people are paying a high price for the ‘live and learn’ model of personal financial education.”
“Too many Rhode Islanders have become compromised due to record-setting indebtedness and all-time low personal savings,” said Caprio, a longtime advocate of financial literacy. “Government, educators, businesses, parents all play an important role in reversing today’s alarming personal financial trends.”
Additional information is available at www.riln.state.ri.us.
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